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xkcd #2897: Light Leap Years (imgs.xkcd.com)

submitted 9 months ago by randomaccount43543 to c/xkcd

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https://xkcd.com/2897

Alt text:

When Pope Gregory XIII briefly shortened the light-year in 1582, it led to navigational chaos and the loss of several Papal starships.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This seems pretty definitive to me:

As defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the light-year is the product of the Julian year (365.25 days, as opposed to the 365.2425-day Gregorian year or the 365.24219-day Tropical year that both approximate) and the speed of light (299792458 m/s).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That is pretty much what I said. I was irritated by your wording "the actual 365.2425", which is just another approximation of the "actual" solar year.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Ah, gotcha, yeah fair enough, I could have said “more accurate”